II \ 'i' : t t( h\ '\ \\ \\ = THE NEW YORKER ward, as Letterman announced a com- mercial, the band hit "Cool Jerk," by the Capitols. "We often react to some- thing in the Top Ten list," Shaffer told me. "When Anton hits that drum fill, we start talking. I'll just say, , "Coo] Jerk"-C!' And we do it." Sometime around four ( earlier if he has to rehearse a comedy sketch, later if there's no musical guest), Shaffer goes downstairs to Studio 6A, on the sixth floor. In the hall outside are big black- and-white publicity photos of Letter- man's antecedents: "The Ernie Kovacs Show"; "J uvenile Jury," with Jack Barry; "The Texaco Star Theatre," with Milton Berle. 6A has the usual quali ty of seeming smaller in real life-as we say-than on television. But it actually is a small studio, both narrower and shallower than 8H, where Arturo Toscanini once con- ducted the NBC Symphony, and from which "Saturday Night Live" now emanates. The home of "Late Night" looks both scruffier and less warm than it does on the air. The "Late Night" goldfish flips back and forth in its cramped bowl. The confetti cannons sit quiescent. The air-conditioning in the studio, meant to counter the intense heat of the lights, is so icy that the musicians and the crew often wear sweaters. Paul Shaffer's domain is at stage right, amid a tangle of cables and equipment. Shaffer works in a kind of bullpen created by three imposing in- struments-a black Yamaha grand piano, a Hammond B-3 organ, and a Kurzweil digital sampler. On top of the Kurzweil sits an Oberheim OBX-a analog synthesizer. With this battery of equipment he can create an almost unlimited repertoire of musical effects. He can do voices. He can do strings. In front of the Yamaha is the bailiwick of Sid McGinnis, the guitarist for the World's Most Dangerous Band. Will Lee roams beside the Hammond, slightly to Shaffer's left. Anton Fig sits with his drum kit on a platform in back of the band. That afternoon, Sinéad O'Connor- tiny, bald, birdily bright-eyed, and wearing an oversized leather jacket- came out, nodded shyly to Shaffer and the band, then belted her way through two rehearsal takes of her number, "Mandinka." She shouted, keened, and yodelled. The band sounded tight and loud and fine. Between takes, Shaf- fer worked out some details with Sid McGinnis, speaking almost in a whis- per. "That G-sharp over E? G-gonk!" Shaffer said. McGinnis nodded. "And that strum-it's too square," Shaffer said. McGinnis nodded again. It was time for another take. "O.K., top!" Shaffer said, and they began the song again. After O'Connor left the stage, the band noodled a little bit, just for the fun of it. They played most of "Hotel California." They played a few bars of "Chuck E's in Love." They sounded won- derful. Every afternoon, for the sound check, Shaffer and the band rehearse the "Late Night" theme. The theme, a jazzy shuffle modulating from the key of G to A, was written by Shaffer himself. He hasn't done a lot of writing; it tends to make him nervous. "I threw up while I was writing the theme," he told me. From the first distorted notes, played simul- taneously on the Oberheim, the Kurz- weil, and Will Lee's bass, the theme brilliantly accompanies the show's swooping opening montage of night- time Manhattan, somehow managing to convey, in a minute's time, breath- less urban nocturnal excitement, quirky humor, dry sophistication, and funky, collegial warmth. "Barry Sand wanted the theme to be half on tape and half live," Shaffer said. "But I insisted on its being all live. I thought it was stupid to have canned music on a show that's supposed to feel live. I wrote the theme with that in mind. There's plen- ty of room for improvisation in it. It's a jam every night." After the sound check, the band members retired to their various dress- ing rooms. Shaffer changed into his show clothes for the evening: baggy black trousers and a silver wood-grain- patterned shirt with a black knit collar. At five-fifteen, he went into makeup, and shortly afterward went onstage. The studio audience was now in place, having been warmed up by the an- nouncer, Bill Wendell, and a brief visit from Letterman himself. As Shaffer hit the opening notes on the Oberheim and the Kurzweil, the audience began ap- plauding and cheering. They were prompted to do so, of course, but they also wanted to; the theme seems to 57 '.x: THE · E .. ) ..... .. .... '." .':: :.. ':. '.. Y '" .... .... ': 0 ' , R '" .:: C ',.:, "' H " ,::" ':" E ':" S ':' ":.., , T ::' ":::'.,,::':' 1 '" '::::" A " .:::., . . - .' . . .... .:. '," :::. ., ;: ". : . ..... ...; ',' ",::. : . ,'":.:." :.:' '.:." '::." :" .'.:." 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